For Ex-Prisoners and Their Families, a New Language Offers Hope

From: http://ifstudies.org/ ” “We’re all ex-somethings,” says founder and CEO Catherine Hoke, who launched Defy in 2010 after developing a similar program for the Texas prison system. “I wish we’d ask ourselves, ‘What would it be like if I was only known for the worst thing I’d done?’” She continues: “Moved by empathy, we’d recognize people for who they are today and not for the mistakes they made yesterday.”

At Defy, it starts with language. “We call them entrepreneurs in training (EITs),” explains Rebecca Choi, Defy’s chief of staff, because “we believe that they are in training to do great things if they so choose and if they’re committed. They have to put in the hard work, but we provide the tools.” ” To read the entire post, click here.